Self-encrypting drives are commonly used in computers to protect information stored on a disk drive from unauthorized access. In general, all of the information on the disk drive is encrypted before it is stored on the disk drive. It is decrypted when read from the disk drive by an authorized system for an authorized user.
The decryption typically uses a key that is related to both the authorized system (such as a system identifier) and the authorized user (such as a user name and password). Thus, if physical access to the disk drive is achieved, such as through theft or loss, then the data can remain protected if the system identifier and user authentication information is unavailable.
Due to limitations of key management software, self-encrypting drives protect an entire disk. In other words, the entire disk drive is either protected, or remains unprotected, by one decryption key.